American Thanksgiving in Hong Kong was served with Salmonella

At least 33 customers of an American restaurant were sickened from the turkey served as part of a Thanksgiving dinner.

The restaurant, Dan Ryan’s, is cooperating with the investigation into the illnesses by Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Ryan’s has also said it will cover medical costs and provide unspecified support to those who were sickened, including reimburment for all meal costs.

Dan Ryan’s is an American style diner. Bacteria reportedly survived cooking turkeys served with this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. Twelve diners initially took ill after eating at the Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill in Harbor City on Nov. 24.

Another 19 illnesses were reported after Thanksgiving with Salmonella suspected as the cause of the illnesses. At least 9 clusters of customers are involved.

The sickened developed symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea within about six to 69 hours. The foods eaten included imported American turkeys, vegetables, apple pie and pumpkin pie.

Merritt Croker, chief executive of Windy City, parent company of Dan Ryan’s, said the company is “devastated” over the illnesses and has cased using some of the imported products.

A letter posted on Dan Ryan’s website said: “Over the 25 year history at this one Dan Ryan’s we have served millions of guests, and have never had a food incident that resulted in the sickness of multiple guests. All of us in the Dan Ryan’s family are heart-broken that this happened, we have reached out to take care of the guests that were affected, and will redouble our efforts to ensure such an event never happens again.”

Twenty-eight people sought medical assistance, six of whom were hospitalized. Four people remained in hospital on Wednesday. All those affected were said to be in a stable condition. Stool specimens from three patients tested positive for group D salmonella